Letters to the Editor

Music Man In response to Bill Chenevert’s article about Jay-Z’s collaboration with Budweiser to put on the Made in America concert:

How could any of the museums pull in new people from this? There is no re-entry if you leave the festival. This is going to damage traditional Philly tourism, not help it. All else aside, I just hope there aren’t riots. Two 8-foot fences are not enough to stop the type of crowds that could turn out around the event.

ANONYMOUS via philadelphiaweekly.com

Fairmount resident here, 27th and Brown. Regret to say that the local businesses are seeing very little income from MIA. They’ve been here for a week, setting up, but have had on-site catering from the start. The PMA was empty today. At our local diner this morning for breakfast, the staff was disappointed with volume. Hopefully, since the show ends at 11, the local late-night establishments will see some mad business tonight. In the meantime, if someone could drop some supplies by helicopter ... none of us can risk losing our parking spaces.

MARIKAY via philadelphiaweekly.com

Wow, Negadelphia lives! Will it be more challenging to access the museums? Sure. But the Philadelphia Museum of Art has the West entrance and the Barnes’ entrance is not on the Parkway. Disruptive people might cause problems, but the police handle that all the time. The concert really has the potential to show Philly in a wonderful light and to encourage people to visit. It’s huge that this is being staged here and not in N.Y.C. or L.A. The longer I live here, the more I believe that negativity has held this region back.

ANONYMOUS via philadelphiaweekly.com

Jay-Z is an artist with very little integrity, as his music is violent, misogynist, materialistic, etc. The event is corporate because it fits right into his belief system! Shame on the city of Philadelphia for not organizing a not-for-profit event that benefits women, children, families, local organizations, etc., hit hardest by the recession. I agree 100 percent with Belafonte. He is a celebrity/activist who understands social responsibility!

DEE via philadelphiaweekly.com

Whine and Dine In response to Brian Freedman’s review of Urban Enoteca at the Latham Hotel:

Excellent review, Brian! While the description of the food at Urban Enoteca will make me stick to beer nuts there, you are also describing the greatest problem for wine drinkers in PA (actually in the U.S. in general; things are not much better from Seattle to New York): insane pricing. Yeah, yeah, I know the licenses are expensive (another story) but serving up a line of cheap (and often cheaply made) wines and charging more per glass than the bottle price in the store, is simply unacceptable. Some of that swill should permanently be sold for $5 or under, while better wines could be $8 or $9 (not the $14-$18 often charged). How can a decent wine culture develop with prices like that, especially given the rotten price/quality ratio.

[On the other hand,] on their website, Urban Enoteca lists a long list of Northwest wineries that make well-made and very good wines (bubblies by Treveri, wines by Anam Cara, Helioterra, and other reputable small producers). If their price is right, I’ll be there.